


Marry Me?

by isthatbloodonhisshirt (wasterella)



Series: Spreading Positivity 2020 [28]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Anniversary, Conversations, Derek Hale Deserves Nice Things, Derek Hale Loves Stiles Stilinski, Don't copy to another site, Established Relationship, Fluff and Angst, Light Angst, M/M, Post-Hale Fire (Teen Wolf), Stiles Stilinski Loves Derek Hale, Stiles Stilinski is a Good Boyfriend, Stiles Stilinski is a Good Person, Stiles Stilinski is a Nice Thing, The Hale Fire (Teen Wolf)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-14
Updated: 2020-04-14
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:07:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23644336
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wasterella/pseuds/isthatbloodonhisshirt
Summary: “Ready?” Derek asked when Stiles trudged towards him.“Caffeine.”“You used to be better about mornings, what happened?” Derek asked, fighting a small smile.“Got old,” Stiles muttered.“Yeah, twenty-six is the height of old. Anything beyond that is justancient.” Derek kissed his temple before leading the way to the door.
Relationships: Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski
Series: Spreading Positivity 2020 [28]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1667605
Comments: 36
Kudos: 910





	Marry Me?

**Author's Note:**

> Ao3 Please. Please move where "No Archive Warnings Apply." I keep almost hitting Major Character Death. There are no Major Character Deaths in a Positivity Series!

Derek had mixed feelings about this day. It was an awful and horrible day for him, but also a really nice and enjoyable day, which always made it very confusing for him. 

Until eight years ago, today had just been a horrible, terrible day. There had been absolutely no bright spot whatsoever in this day, and he generally just liked to sit in the burned out shell of his old childhood home for the whole day and think on what he’d done, how everything was his fault, how so many people had died because of his stupid naivety. 

Today was the day his family home had burned to the ground, with all but his sisters and uncle trapped inside. Today was the day he’d gone from child to adult in a few short hours. He’d changed after Paige’s death, but it was nothing compared to what losing virtually his entire family had done to him. 

He’d never thought he’d come back from that. Never thought he’d be able to trust anyone ever again. And he’d been determined not to, because the last time he’d trusted someone, they’d burned his family alive. 

And then, there was Stiles. Because of course there was. Stiles, the loudmouth human who knew Scott was a Werewolf before knowing Werewolves were even _real_. Who’d always pushed for Derek to do the right thing, but also sided with him whenever the right thing sometimes wasn’t the best option. Who’d saved him, cared about him, helped him, _loved_ him. 

Stiles had shown up, and now Derek was stuck trusting someone again. But there was a difference between the trust with Kate, and the trust with Stiles. 

For one thing, he wasn’t trying to get with Derek to kill his family, so that was a huge plus in his favour. 

For another, it had taken Derek _years_ to recognize this, but once he had, it was impossible for him to stop noticing. 

Stiles never wanted anything from him. Ever. 

Whenever anything happened, Stiles had never once demanded something from Derek. He’d never been manipulative, or cruel, or _entitled_. He was like the polar opposite of Kate, who’d used their fake relationship as a means to bully Derek into giving her what she wanted. 

Stiles had never asked Derek for anything. The most he’d ever wanted from him was for Derek to believe him, and because Stiles had always trusted _him_ in turn, Derek found that he couldn’t help but trust him back. Stiles had proven time and again that he was Derek’s friend, not because he wanted something from him, but because he liked him, trusted him, wanted to get to _know_ him. 

Of course, Derek was fucking helpless. Who could resist someone like Stiles for long? Nobody, not even him. Not even _Peter_. Nobody could resist Stiles. 

Except maybe Lydia, but that was her loss, and Derek was forever grateful she’d spent so many years rebuffing Stiles’ advances, because that was how he and Stiles got together four years ago. 

But this day had gone from something horrible to something not so horrible eight years ago, because he and Stiles had become good, solid friends when he was a senior in high school, which was eight years ago. 

Everyone knew the day of the Hale fire. Of course they did, it was the biggest story of the town. His first two years back at Beacon Hills, before he had any friends or a pack he actually cared about, Derek spent today sitting in the burned remains of his childhood home. Alone. 

His third year back, when Stiles was a senior and they actually liked each other, Derek had gone to the house around four in the morning to begin his usual routine of guilt and sorrow over the loss of his family. By eight, he heard the distinct sound of Stiles’ Jeep coming down the uneven road to the house. 

Stiles had shown up with breakfast and some cards, giving Derek absolutely no indication as to what he was doing there and why he refused to leave. He forced Derek to eat, and then they sat playing cards until close to lunchtime with Stiles asking Derek questions about his family. 

Honestly, Derek hadn’t understood at first. A part of him wondered if maybe Stiles was trying to torture him, make him feel _worse_ for what he’d done. Salt in the wound and all that. 

It wasn’t until after Stiles left to get their lunch, and then returned with a few board games that he realized what was happening. The after-lunch discussions shifted to Stiles’ mother, and all the things he’d loved about her. All her little quirks and habits, the way she always cut the crusts off his sandwiches, but still kept them in his lunch box since he _did_ like them, just not with his sandwiches—Stiles was weird, Derek had long ago accepted that. 

Stiles wasn’t forcing Derek to talk about his family to make him relive the guilt, he was trying to get Derek to talk about them so he would _remember_ them. And so that Stiles could learn about them, find out who they were, what they were like, if they were as grumpy and sour-faced as Derek was. 

When Stiles left to get them dinner, Derek realized he felt... lighter. It still hurt, it would always hurt, but talking about them made him feel like they were still around somehow. Like he could walk into the kitchen and find his mother there making brownies, even as his dad tried to eat half the batter before it made it into the oven. Or Laura cackling loudly in her room while on the phone with one of her friends about some guy who’d been acting like a douche to her for one reason or another. His cousins playing outside in the yard, or even Peter before he was hard and cold like he was now. 

Peter had never been a nice guy, Derek had no illusions of that, but he hadn’t been the same as the man he was now. Screaming and furious in his own mind for years after the fire, it had changed him a lot, and Derek often wondered what his uncle did on the day of the Hale fire. He was never at the house, because Derek had never seen him. 

After that first year, Derek hadn’t really expected it to happen again. It had been nice, having Stiles there, playing board games and cards and just talking about their loved ones. He hadn’t expected to ever have that again. 

The next year rolled around, Derek went to the house at four in the morning, and three hours later—earlier than the year before—he heard the Jeep coming down the path, and there was Stiles. He’d brought an entire spread this time so he wouldn’t have to go out and grab food every few hours, and had been adamant about Derek learning a new and very complicated board game so they could play against other members of the pack sometime and kick ass. 

And so, it turned into an unspoken tradition. Derek never asked Stiles to come, and Stiles never asked him if he wanted him to. He just showed up, and Derek appreciated it every year. 

When they’d started dating, Stiles had put his foot down on Derek slinking out at four in the morning to sulk in the house. They spent the whole day there, Derek didn’t have to do it sleep-deprived, so he always snuggled in close to him until at least seven. When they got up, they both got ready to head out, Stiles picking out some games or other activities they could do while still being able to engage in conversation, and then packed up some food. They’d go through the McDonalds drive-thru for breakfast, and then would spend the whole day at the Hale house, as normal. 

It had started to become a day Derek almost looked forward to instead of a day he dreaded. He was still sad, and he would always feel guilty, but Stiles helped him remember his family and how _good_ they were. How much he loved them. And he always found new questions to ask him, to make him talk about the people in his life, the ones he’d lost but would never forget. 

Stiles always _cared_ , and was interested, and made this day seem so much better than it honestly should. He would never be able to thank him enough for that. 

So yes, today was a horrible day that he looked forward to every year because of Stiles, and that was confusing. 

Derek had been awake for well over an hour by the time the alarm went off at seven. Stiles groaned pathetically, face buried in Derek’s side, but unlike on a work-day, instead of grumbling and rolling around for an additional twenty minutes before finally getting his ass out of bed, Stiles just let out a harsh exhale and peeled his eyes open. Sitting up slowly while scrubbing his face with both hands, he blinked blearily at nothing across the room while the alarm continued to scream at them to get up. 

Derek didn’t rush him, because Stiles was already leagues ahead of where he normally was. It was the only day of the year where Stiles actually _got up_ without complaint, and Derek appreciated it so much. 

Once Stiles was on his feet and had turned the alarm off, Derek slid out of bed and the two of them got dressed in silence. Stiles was always sluggish in the morning, Derek attributed it to his caffeine dependence. They took turns in the bathroom, Derek going first since he’d be faster and could get started on packing their food for the day. 

They always planned ahead, so it was more a matter of getting items from the fridge into the cooler and making sure they grabbed all the right bags. When he was done and carrying everything out of the kitchen, he saw Stiles standing by the bookcases, staring at all their board games. 

They’d amassed quite the collection since it became clear the pack loved them, even if none of them would admit it. Jackson always argued heatedly whenever they played Monopoly, because he sucked at it and always ended up broke, which was probably hard to stomach when growing up filthy rich. 

Cards Against Humanity was another popular one, but it couldn’t be played with only two people, so they usually just grabbed games like Scrabble and Rivals for Catan—they kept Settlers of Catan for when the whole pack was together—and of course, cards. Stiles was exceptionally good at War and it drove Derek _crazy_! 

He frowned when he saw Stiles holding the Cards Against Humanity box, staring down at it for a long while before bending down to add it to the plastic bag the other games were in. Derek figured maybe he’d invited others from the pack to come out today, or maybe Stiles was thinking they could stop in somewhere later and have a round with people to try and lift Derek’s spirits. 

“Ready?” Derek asked when Stiles trudged towards him.

“Caffeine.” 

“You used to be better about mornings, what happened?” Derek asked, fighting a small smile. 

“Got old,” Stiles muttered. 

“Yeah, twenty-six is the height of old. Anything beyond that is just _ancient_.” Derek kissed his temple before leading the way to the door. 

They made it out of the lot quickly, heading for McDonalds as had become tradition on this day. Stiles ordered the largest coffee they had, and they got a mix of sweet and savoury breakfast foods before heading out to the Preserve. 

Stiles was still in that in-between stage between sleep and consciousness while he sipped his coffee so Derek just let him be for a few minutes while they made their way to his old home. When they reached it, they moved everything inside together, Derek laying out the blanket they’d started bringing on the third year, and sitting together on it while they ate their breakfast. 

Once they were both more awake—mostly Stiles—and had finished their meals, Stiles pulled out Scrabble and they got set up for a day of board games. 

“So what was your mom’s favourite hobby, anyway?” Stiles asked while staring intently at his letters. 

“She really liked to cook,” Derek admitted, waiting on his boyfriend to choose the word that would be his _demise_ —it probably wouldn’t, Stiles was good at Scrabble despite the fact that Derek read more books in a month than he did in a _year_. 

“Was it a hobby, though? Like, did she just _do_ it because she enjoyed it, or was it just one of those things that she did a lot?” 

“I guess... I’m not sure,” Derek admitted. “Probably something she just did a lot. She liked to garden, though. Gardening would probably be more of a hobby. She really took pride in having the nicest begonias.” 

“I don’t even know what a begonia looks like, but I _do_ know it’s a flower,” Stiles said, pointing a finger at Derek even while he kept staring at his letters. “You know how keyboard mashing is usually like, a and d and j and s? Does keyboard mashing count as a word?” 

“No,” Derek said immediately with a small smile. “Nice try though.” 

Stiles just grunted and eventually played the word ‘and’ since he apparently didn’t have any better letters. 

The day progressed much like it did every other year. They chatted, they played various games, they ate. It was nice, talking about his family, learning about Stiles’ mother. They even touched a bit on Stiles’ life growing up as the Sheriff’s kid. Derek knew the man loved his son, but with his job, he wasn’t around much. Scott’s mother was also fairly absent, given _her_ job, so it sounded like the two of them had helped raise each other. 

Stiles was definitely the older sibling, he’d turned out pretty well. Scott, well... Stiles liked him, so Derek wasn’t going to think bad thoughts about him. Despite the fact that he had many, _many_ things he could be thinking about. 

They usually only stayed until a little after seven at night, trying for the full twelve hours thing. They had dinner at the house, but would always stop for dessert somewhere before heading back to the loft, so Derek was sure Stiles was going to want to head out soon given it was nearing eight and he hadn’t had his ice cream yet. 

“Ready to go?” Derek asked when he’d lost yet another round of War. Seriously, Stiles _had_ to cheat or something. 

Stiles was shuffling the cards, staring down at them while his eyebrows drew together. He didn’t say anything for a long while, Derek frowning at the silence, but eventually his boyfriend grabbed the elastic band he used to keep all the cards together and wrapped it around them. 

“One more thing before we go?” Stiles asked just as Derek was shifting to get up. 

“Sure.” Derek was never going to say no to spending more time talking about his family while playing games with Stiles. It still hurt, but less and less every year. This year had been the best one yet. 

Settling once more, he frowned when Stiles pulled out the Cards Against Humanity box. 

“We can’t play that with two people,” Derek said, confused. 

“Oh, it’s not Cards Against Humanity,” Stiles said, holding the box between both hands, as if terrified it was going to lurch out of his grip and scuttle away. “I just used the box because it was convenient.” 

“Are we going to go home to Cards Against Humanity lost all over the place?” Derek asked, amused. 

Stiles didn’t laugh. Or even smile. He just kept holding the box, like he was afraid to let it go. 

Derek frowned again, even more confused. “Stiles?” 

“Sorry.” Stiles let out an awkward laugh and gave himself a shake. “I lost my train of thought. Um, here. Why don’t you set it up?” 

It seemed to take a considerable effort for Stiles to hold out the box, watching Derek intently while doing so. Confused, Derek just grabbed it from him, noting that it seemed... exceptionally light. It didn’t really feel like there was anything inside. 

When he tilted it slightly to get a good grip on the lid to pull it off, he heard something slide down the length of the rectangular box. Whatever the game was, it was loose inside, but he didn’t concern himself with it. It clearly wasn’t going to get damaged in the box. 

Finally getting the lid off, Derek peered into the box, and for a second he didn’t understand. The only thing inside looked to be some kind of ring. It looked like a nice ring, probably steel, though he acknowledged it could just as easily be tungsten or titanium. 

When his brain finally clued in to what he was staring at—namely, a _ring_ —it screeched to an abrupt halt and his eyes snapped up to look at Stiles. 

He was still sitting right across from him, looking uncertain and worried, anxiety wafting off him in waves. He rubbed anxiously at one of his arms, licked his lips, then said, very quietly, “Marry me?” 

Derek made sure not to tip the box over when he moved quickly to lean over the space between them and kiss Stiles, dropping the lid of the box so he could thread his fingers into his hair and kiss him like he never wanted to stop. 

Stiles’ hands gripped his shoulders, pressing in eagerly, and seeming to relax given the clearer answer than Derek staring down silently into an almost-empty Cards Against Humanity box. 

When Derek finally pulled away enough to press his forehead to Stiles’, hand coming around to cradle his cheek and brush his thumb along the soft skin, he heard Stiles let out a shaky breath. 

“Is that a yes?” 

“You’re an idiot.”

“Exactly, that’s why I asked you to clarify.” 

Derek would’ve rolled his eyes if he wasn’t just so fucking _happy_ right then. “Yes.” 

“Are you happy?” Stiles asked softly. 

Frowning, Derek pulled back slightly so he could see Stiles’ face, hand still against his cheek. “Of course I’m happy.” 

Stiles smiled. “Good. I wanted—this day, I know it’s not the best for you. I know you hate it, but I wanted to try and... give you a reason to hate it a little less. I was just hoping asking you today would help.” 

Derek couldn’t help it. He laughed, shaking his head and leaning forward to press another kiss to Stiles’ lips. “Stiles,” he insisted. “You helped eight years ago when you showed up with breakfast and a deck of cards. This day will always be one of the best and worst of my life, but thank you for trying so hard to push it more on the good side.” 

“S’what I’m here for,” Stiles teased, leaning in to kiss him again lightly. “By the way—I actually _don’t_ remember where I put all the cards for Cards Against Humanity.” 

Derek laughed again, resting his forehead against Stiles’ shoulder and groaning. “Ice cream first. Then we hunt down what your crazy brain did trying to hide them so I wouldn’t open the stupid box.” 

Stiles beamed at him when Derek finally sat up, and Derek had never loved this awful, horrible day more in his life. 

Because Stiles would always be there to help brighten any day, and Derek couldn’t wait for this to be their new normal. 

**END.**

**Author's Note:**

> Teen Wolf (c) Jeff Davis 
> 
> Come chill with me on [Tumblr](https://isthatbloodonhisshirt.tumblr.com/).


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